I'm Sioux Roslawski and this is my blog about writing, dogs, grown-up children, menopause, the joy of a marvelous book, classroom teaching in general, and specifically, the teaching of writing. You can email me at sroslawski(at)yahoo(dot)com.

The Pyrenees---Southern France

Saturday, September 4, 2010

A Writing Ephiphany

Well, perhaps the term "ephiphany" is a bit strong. And curiously, this thought has occurred to me before, but only in fleeting glimpses, and then it vanishes, as if never having appeared at all...all memory of it gone. Last night it reappeared as part of a stupid sitcom.

One of the characters was speaking of a crush. The reason why they did not act on their feelings was so they could "keep on dreaming, instead of dealing with the reality as a failure."

That is why I don't submit things. As long as I don't send anything out and risk receiving rejection letters, I can hold onto my dream of being published. I can continue to fantasize what life would like if...

However, thanks to making my plans public (to send out my manuscript by the end of August) and thanks to some gentle prodding (thank you, Donna ) my manuscript has been delivered and is probably in a pile with other hopeful pieces. In 3-5 months, I will hear, and will then go from there...

Two days after I sent off my manuscript, I went to a book reading at the Boom Boom Room in St. Charles (right above The Lounge). W.E. Mueller was reading from his book Peaches and Cream. There was a 2nd author there as well: the son of the man highlighted in the book Confessions of a Mob Hitman.

Both readings were moving, in different ways. One of the stories that Mueller read was "Uncle Albert." It had an O. Henry twist at the end that really smacked the reader in the head in a good way. I have purchased the book; it's a mixture of detective stories and humor and poignancy. I have not finished the book, but I will say that although detective stories are not my normal fare, I enjoy Mueller's...

Flynn's reading was engaging because it was apparent how emotional this journey has been for him. His father died before the book could be published. It was easy to see how moved he was as he wrote the preface and did the research to validate his father's stories. Both father and son had been incarcerated, yethere was the son, perhaps learning from his own as well as his father's frailities, reading stories for a captive audience. (I couldn't resist the bad pun!)

We write for various reasons. What do you most want to accomplish when you write? Who is your audience?

8 comments:

Hi Sioux! I love your blog and most of the time have good intentions to leave comments, or answer the questions you've posed, but then I decide I "don't have the time" and promise myself I'll come back later. Well...later is now! I'm sorry I missed you at The Boom Boom Room the other night, and darn..I didn't know Bill or Michael were going to do any reading! Sheesh! Sorry I missed that, too! ANYHOO, I'm so glad you finally submitted your manuscript!! Remember, I just blogged about that recently, too! What's gonna happen if they don't like it?? Come over to your house and beat you up?! :DOkay...now in answer to your 2 questions. When I write, I share my thoughts or experiences. I write little snippets of life (I think that's what BH calls them!). I want people to react to my stories the way I intend them to, depending on whether they're bittersweet, funny, inspirational, etc. I hope they laugh out loud and maybe shed a tear. (probably not at the exact same time...but ya never know!) AND, Who is my audience? Well, mostly women I would imagine, but I've also had men tell me they like my stories, too. I write because I must! And if people like what I write, enough to buy my book, than I say Hallelujah!

And if they beat me up with it, it would hurt a lot less than YOUR manuscipt, since mine is less than 10 pages long. I think you would like it, however. It's a tale about a stray dog.

Am I right in my thinking? Will your book's tone be similar to Erma Bombeck's? (She had the greatest story about her husband, who refused to stop for food on vacation trips. He would just hurtle by restaurants while she and the kids would beg to stop; they were starving. She finally gave her husband some "chocolate" to eat but really, it wa Ex Lax. She said, "Soon, we'll be stopping...")

I agree. We write because we must.

I'm sorry I did not get to meet The Ronald. I am assuming (by the photo on your blog) that he does not have the same hair stylist as The Donald?

Sioux, I am so happy that you have taken action. You are on a roll with joining Saturday Writers, going to book signings, and now submitting your work! You should be proud of yourself. The time is now for you. The reason I write is because I love words and using them to help people look at their everyday happenings in a different way. I, too, keep pens and paper all over our house, handbags, bookbags, etc. I'll write on the backs of receipts, napkins, and anything else handy. I will also leave a note on my cell phone to myself.

Barbara---If the time for me is NOT now, when? If I don't get off my rear and seize the moment, my time will never come.

Sue--I will always remember one of Howard Nemerov's stories. His office in St. Louis was literally wallpapered with rejection letters.

Jenny---The metaphors of the diving board and the mailbox are apt ones. Stepping off into the unknown, the unsure, is taking a risk, and writing IS risky. And I love the image of going to the mailbox. How can I expect anything to be there if I send nothing out?

Terri Tiffany---Don't you think that ALL women, no matter what their age, can relate to certain things? And we all need an inspirational story now and then to keep us going, day after day after day...